“I wish we’d made him take us along now,” said Tom, miserably. “Believe me, if I had it to do all over again, I’d go with him, Captain Bradley or no Captain Bradley. I wouldn’t care what he said.”
“Well, we haven’t got the chance to do it all over again,” Steve had reminded him, moodily. “Phil’s gone and the chances are that if we haven’t found him now, we won’t. Not but what we’ll keep on trying,” he added doggedly, “and if it’s the greasers that have got him, we won’t give up till every one of the scoundrels is dead.”
“You bet we won’t,” Dick had agreed, but in his heart he was thinking that no amount of vengeance would bring Phil back to them, Dear old Phil, with his fun and his undaunted courage. He clenched his fists belligerently. The greasers had better keep out of his way, if they knew what was good for them!
And now had come this summons for Captain Bradley. Hardly knowing what to expect, the boys entered his presence and faced him eagerly.
In their excitement, the boys had completely overlooked the fellow standing stoically in one corner of the room but as the Captain pointed to him they turned to him, eyeing him with a mixture of curiosity and intense dislike.
“Now repeat what you just said to me,” Captain Bradley commanded of the greaser.
Obediently and without the slightest trace of emotion, the fellow did as he was bid.
CHAPTER XXIV
Caged
As the substance of the Mexican’s message made itself clear to the boys, they almost went mad with joy. They pounded one another on the back, shouting that dear old Phil was still in the land of the living.
Captain Bradley smiled in sympathy with their frenzy, but he gradually brought their attention back to the matter of the ransom.